A powerful portrayal of how a father fights the society and their narrow mindedness to support his daughter to pursue her dreams.
India’s most popular indigenous OTT platform: ZEE5 has been entertaining us for some time now with high-quality, compelling content. The OTT platform has an impressive and ever-increasing catalog of ZEE5 Originals, Hindi and other regional language movies, telefilms, and numerous music videos. Coming 21st August, it is releasing “Mee Raqsam”, a film portraying the intricate relationship of a daughter and a father against the backdrop of social and religious fundamentalism. We recently watched its thrilling trailer and thought of sharing our views on the same.
The film is greatly inspired by the relationship of famed Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi’s relationship with his daughter Shabana Azmi. Mee Raqsam is about a Muslim girl (Aditi Subedi), who apparently going against the odds decides to learn Bharatnatyam. As the news about her decision spreads around, the religious leader of the area portrayed by the veteran Naseeruddin Shah forces her father (Danish Husain) to stop her. He goes on to the extent of socially boycotting him by saying that he should be excommunicated from the community.
The 30 odd seconds teaser seems powerful and the full trailer too looks promising. Baba Azmi in his debut as a director looks to have given a balanced view of this delicate storyline. The film is shot in Mijwan, the birthplace of Kaifi Azmi. The screenplay and cinematography look good. The background score is stirring. Some dialogues that we liked really sum up what Mee Raqsam has on offer for cinema lovers.
At one place we see the community leader boycotting the father on religious grounds by saying, “In Jeso Ki Namaz Allah Ko Qabool Nai Hoti.” The father replies by telling him “Ye Faisla Hum Allah Par Chod Den.”
At another moment in the trailer, we see another character taunting the already bruised father by saying, “Hamare Log To Apko Kabhi Apnayenge Nai, Iss Chakkar Me Aap Apne Logon Se Bhi Jayenge.”
Do watch #MeeRaqsamOnZEE5 to see how a father helps her daughter to achieve #SapnoKiTaaqat.
Our Verdict
Overall, Mee Raqsam looks good to watch social drama. The film has three-time National Award winner Naseeruddin Shah, the upcoming talented Aditi Subedi, and a theatre veteran Danish Husain in lead roles. We loved this film’s central idea about how a father supports his daughter’s aspirations and dreams by going against what society says.
So, create an alert on your ZEE5 application for this film and wait for 21st August. #MeeRaqsamOnZEE5
Title: Mee Raqsam
Year of Release: 2020
Directed by: Baba Azmi
Cast: Shradha Kaul, Naseeruddin Shah, Danish Husain, Rakesh Chaturvedi Om, Aditi Subedi
Language: Hindi, Urdu
Genre: Drama, Social
Country of Origin: India (Bollywood)
Distributed by: ZEE5
Reviewed by: Absar Ahmad & Afrose Shaikh